What reasonable requests? There isn’t (yet) a task force that goes door to door in Manhattan knocking on doors and checking immigrants’ papers.
We are Finnish citizens and if the passports really had been lost, we could always get new ones at the Finnish consulate in New York to return home.
I’ve held several types of visas, L-1 and O-1, and I also applied for a PERM whatever that I eventually abandoned because I didn’t want to stay in the country and with that employer. The American immigration system is incredibly poorly designed and frustrating for all parties. It drives honest legal immigrants like us to an “I don’t give a shit” mindset where we just did the minimum to get the paperwork while waiting to leave the country.
Now I still get paid by an American company at the same rates as before, but I pay taxes to Finland instead. The immigrant-hostile system isn’t the success you imagine.
I’m crying about that in my beer tonight, getting paid a Silicon Valley salary by an American company while living in my home country.
You have made it so complicated and unattractive to stay in the country that you don’t care about losing people who wanted to stay and pay taxes, and instead are enabling these jobs to be exported.
The static “papers please” mindset killed the Soviet Union and many other empires before it. Americans somehow managed to avoid it for over two centuries. I know you don’t want my opinion, but you probably shouldn’t give up on that achievement so easily. It’s not just about immigrants — the mindset infects the entire society. This was the fundamental edge you had over Europe and you’re throwing it away.
Please don’t interpret my disagreement with you about the immigration process as a desire to not know you and interact with you as a person. I appreciate your insights into the process as you experienced it and your contributions to HN community.
Thank you for the gracious reply, it’s very much appreciated.
The reason I have strong feelings about this topic is that I want America to continue succeeding, and I wanted to be part of it but it didn’t make practical sense for me.
When I was a child in the 1980s living next door to the Soviet Union, the USA was a beacon of hope to us. It sounds corny but it’s true. (Reagan and Clinton were politicians who seemed to intuitively understand this global mood and were able to leverage it. I disagree with them on many specifics, but they excelled at this.)
I know Americans always feel like there’s too much going on at home to care about the rest of the world. But often in history the solutions at home have appeared by opening up, not closing in.
Your earnest desire to be part of America is admirable, and the pitfalls of the system are that much more tragic in light of this. The system failed you, and your attempts to lessen the burden imposed on you and your family are not my own to second-guess, though I would have preferred a better solution for you all that would have allowed you to remain in the country legally without requiring leaving only to return. It would be supremely unfair if you would be denied residency or citizenship due to your actions, as I don’t believe you had any intent to deceive or violate the law, and you very well may not have done either, and I will not besmirch your honor by implying you did. I understand that your first responsibility is to yourself and your family, and I hope you are able to enjoy the holidays with you and yours.
We are Finnish citizens and if the passports really had been lost, we could always get new ones at the Finnish consulate in New York to return home.
I’ve held several types of visas, L-1 and O-1, and I also applied for a PERM whatever that I eventually abandoned because I didn’t want to stay in the country and with that employer. The American immigration system is incredibly poorly designed and frustrating for all parties. It drives honest legal immigrants like us to an “I don’t give a shit” mindset where we just did the minimum to get the paperwork while waiting to leave the country.
Now I still get paid by an American company at the same rates as before, but I pay taxes to Finland instead. The immigrant-hostile system isn’t the success you imagine.